Denver Broncos Picking Up the Pieces: How Will the Team Recover?

It's been three days since the embarrassment in Arizona, a game in which the place kicker defeated the Denver Broncos all by his lonesome.

As a 24 year Bronco fan, I wasn't angry with what I witnessed; after all, Jay Feeley scored more points by himself than 16 entire NFL teams over this past weekend.

No, anger was not the emotion.

Anger was the emotion I felt during the collapse at the hands of Doug Williams. I was angry when we failed to get into the playoffs and couldn't seem to get past .500. Angry when Jay Cutler and even more so when Peyton Hillis were shipped out of Denver.

This emotion that I was feeling on Sunday afternoon was more along the lines of sadness or despair. This was something I haven't felt as a Broncos fan since John Elway rode off into the sunset or when Terrell Davis' knee exploded on him. The unsettling feeling crept in after I read the news about McNameless getting the boot. I think it was the right call, but I knew that things were going to get a lot worse very quickly.

The biggest problem with the Broncos right now is that our ex-tyrant laid the ground work for a debacle the likes of which no Broncos fan has ever witnessed. The coaching staff is clueless about what to do now. That's because the Mile High Napoleon pulled all of the strings. Mike McCoy doesn't have a clue of how to run an offense, and it was apparent in the desert. Eric Studesville may be a decent coach, but he doesn't have a very inspiring resume'.

A running back's coach on teams that could not run the ball does not qualify you to be a head coach in the NFL, even if interim begins your title. There was obviously no inspiration shown in the efforts on the field by anyone not named Champ and that finger always points right back at the coaching staff.

It's time to look for a new head coach who will concern himself more on who he surrounds himself with, than how much control he has over everyday activities and tasks.

The other catastrophe that we'll be dealing with shortly is the defense.

If something's broke, don't fix it, right? Mike Shannahan's offense was an explosive machine that needed only a backup O lineman or two. Everything else was in place. Pick a RB off the street and he could have run for more yardage in our former offense than Adrian Peterson could in our current scheme.

So how much sense did it make to completely gut the entire offense, and spend nearly two entire NFL drafts on the offensive side of the ball when the defense was in complete shambles? Didn't anyone pay attention while Shanny was running the show, that you can't patch your swiss cheese defense with free agent cast offs? Focus on the draft, get some solid (not flashy) rookies on the defense, especially the line, and do whatever you can to keep Champ around.

As much as it hurts me to type this, I'm not positive that future Hall of Famer Champ Bailey will put up with any more of the shenanigans that have been going on in Denver for the past three to four years, and honestly, I can't blame him.

With all of the shattered pieces lying around Invesco right now, it looks as though we have some tough years ahead of us my fellow Mile High Maniacs, much worse than we've seen in quite some time. We have yet to hit bottom, but hey, it looks like John Elway is coming to the front office, and that's one giant step in the right direction.